Classical music on radio vs. empeg - VolAdjust

After 625 songs in my Pop playlist, I finally switched to Classical to hear the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto on my empeg. I know it's just range compression and all, but it's so quiet! I had to increase volume to the unheard of -5db from the typical -17.5db. The dynamic range was very drastic. I had to crank the empeg to 0db to hear the pianissimo solo passages.

This is not at all how the piece sounded on my radio a few mornings earlier. Sure, they played a different recording, but still. Yet when I dropped the volume to -10db and turned on VolAdj to Low, the dynamic range matched what I heard on the radio. VolAdj gave readings between 1.5 and 2.87 (the max for Low setting?), so it wasn't adjusting too drastically.

So, I wonder, do radio stations use dynamic range compression when they send their music? Probably more likely for classical and jazz pieces than average pop radio. I drive to work every morning, windows down (yes, even often in snow and rain), and can hear radio classical music rather well at a slightly increased volume.

Is there a trick to getting my empeg Classical music to sound comfortably audible? Sure, use VolAdj, but maybe something when I rip the CDs? Despite reading the FAQ about this, I still can't imagine that my classical CDs ever hit the volume peak even once. Maybe once per CD and every track (movements of larger works) are normalized relative to that one instance. Heh, I'd take a clip or two if it'd just "sound louder". Sorry, Tony, if I'm causing you a headache.

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So, I wonder, do radio stations use dynamic range compression when they send their music? Probably more likely for classical and jazz pieces than average pop radio.

Yes, even more so with classical and jazz, FM radio only has so much dynamic range, so it has to be compressed. I'll let someone who knows more about radio give details, since they are very fuzzy right now to me.